El contribuyente puede modificar el borrador de la declaración.

Contribuyente means taxpayer.

It is a noun of the type that often has the same form for masculine and feminine:

• el contribuyente = the male taxpayer / the taxpayer
• la contribuyente = the female taxpayer

So the word itself does not change to -a in the feminine. The article tells you the gender.

In this sentence, el contribuyente is being used either:

• for a male taxpayer, or
• in a general legal/administrative sense, where Spanish often uses the masculine singular as a generic form.

Yes, el literally means the.

In official, legal, and administrative Spanish, it is very common to use the singular definite article to talk about a person in a general category:

• El contribuyente... = The taxpayer... but in context it can mean something like
• A taxpayer...
• The taxpayer concerned...
• Taxpayers, in general...

So even though English might sometimes prefer a taxpayer or just taxpayers, Spanish often uses el + singular noun in formal language.

Because after poder (to be able to / can), Spanish uses an infinitive.

So:

• puede = he/she/it can or you can (formal)
• modificar = to modify

Together:

• puede modificar = can modify

This is the normal structure:

• puedo hablar = I can speak
• puedes entrar = you can enter
• puede modificar = he/she/it can modify

The second verb stays in the infinitive.

Puede is the third person singular present tense of poder.

Conjugation:

• yo puedo
• tú puedes
• él/ella/usted puede
• nosotros podemos
• vosotros podéis
• ellos/ellas/ustedes pueden

In your sentence, puede agrees with el contribuyente, which is singular:

• El contribuyente puede...

Here it can often suggest either, depending on context.

In a tax or administrative sentence like this, puede modificar usually means:

• can modify
• is allowed to modify
• may modify

So it expresses possibility, ability, or permission, depending on the situation.

In official notices, English might translate it as may modify because that sounds more formal:

• The taxpayer may modify the draft return.

But grammatically, puede is still the normal verb can / is able to.

Both can relate to changing something, but modificar is more formal and fits administrative language better.

• modificar = to modify, amend, alter
• cambiar = to change

In tax, legal, or bureaucratic contexts, Spanish often prefers modificar because it sounds more precise and official.

So:

• modificar el borrador = modify/amend the draft sounds more natural in official Spanish than
• cambiar el borrador

Yes. Borrador here means draft.

In everyday Spanish, borrador can also mean:

• an eraser
• a draft version of a text or document

In this sentence, because of the tax context, it clearly means:

• draft
• preliminary version

So el borrador de la declaración is the draft version of the tax return or declaration.

De la declaración means of the return/declaration.

Breakdown:

• de = of
• la declaración = the declaration / the return

So:

• el borrador de la declaración = the draft of the return/declaration

In tax contexts, declaración often refers to a tax return, especially when the context already makes that clear.

Because de + el = del, but only when the article is el.

Here the noun is:

• la declaración

So it stays:

• de la declaración

Compare:

• el borrador del informe = the draft of the report
• el borrador de la declaración = the draft of the declaration

You only contract de + el to del.
You do not contract de + la.

Because declaración is a feminine noun:

• la declaración

A useful clue is the ending -ción, which is very often feminine in Spanish:

• la información
• la administración
• la declaración
• la modificación

So the article must be la, and that is why the phrase is de la declaración.

Most likely, yes.

While declaración by itself can mean declaration in a broad sense, the presence of contribuyente strongly suggests a tax context. So in practice, this sentence probably means:

• The taxpayer can modify the draft tax return.

In Spain, this kind of wording is very typical in tax-related instructions from the tax authorities.

In general Spanish, yes, declaración can mean statement, declaration, or return, depending on context.

But in this sentence, because of the tax vocabulary:

• contribuyente
• borrador
• declaración

the best translation is usually tax return, not statement.

So:

• el borrador de la declaración = the draft tax return

The structure is:

• El contribuyente = subject
• puede modificar = verb phrase
• el borrador de la declaración = direct object

So it works like:

[Subject] + [modal verb + infinitive] + [object]

This is a very common Spanish pattern:

• El alumno puede corregir el ejercicio.
• El usuario puede cambiar la contraseña.
• El contribuyente puede modificar el borrador de la declaración.

This sentence is already very natural in official Spanish, but it is quite formal.

A less formal way might be something like:

• El contribuyente puede cambiar el borrador de la declaración or even, depending on context,
• Puedes cambiar el borrador de la declaración

However, those alternatives either sound less official or change the person. In administrative Spanish, modificar is the more natural choice.

So for a tax website or official document, the original sentence is exactly the kind of wording you would expect.

In standard peninsular Spanish, roughly:

con-tri-bu-YEN-te

A few points:

• The stress is on -yen-: contribuYENte
• The y in -yente sounds like the y in yes, though it can vary by accent
• In much of Spain, the c in declaración before i/e would sound like a soft th, but there is no such c before e/i in contribuyente

If helpful, a rough pronunciation for the whole sentence is:

el con-tree-boo-YEN-teh PWEH-deh mo-dee-fee-KAR el bo-rra-DOR de la de-kla-ra-THYON
(with -THYON being typical of much of Spain)

Not naturally in this sentence.

Spanish normally needs the articles here:

• El contribuyente
• el borrador
• la declaración

If you remove them, the sentence sounds incomplete or unnatural in standard usage:

• Contribuyente puede modificar borrador de declaración ❌

That kind of article omission might appear in headlines, labels, or notes, but not in a normal full sentence.

So the full version with articles is the correct standard form:

• El contribuyente puede modificar el borrador de la declaración.